CORN. 



T3 



that the rutabaga was the one he tried, and he found that 

 when the soil was loosened below, the roots would tend down- 

 ward, and the lateral spread was diminished. 



Dr. Baldwin. He made it grow very unnaturally, if that 

 was the case. 



Mr. Gould. Did you ever examine the roots two or three 

 feet down in good soil ? 



Dr. Baldwin. We find the rutabaga comes out of the 

 ground easily, whereas the rock turnip is hard to pull up. 



Mr. Gould. Is not this the difference: tliat the rock turnip 

 is much larger and heavier than the rutabaga, and the fine 

 roots of the rutabaga are so much smaller that they cannot 

 descend deep into the earth, while the rock turnip has a long, 

 heavy root, which has the power of forcing itself downward. 



Dr. Baldwin. There is a natural way in which they grow, 

 and there is a different natural love or disposition for the soil 

 in each. Are not light and air 'essential conditions for the 

 best vegetable gro wth ? 



Mr. Gould. Unquestionably so, sir. 



Dr. Baldwin. In pursuit of food, and also of these requi- 

 sites, air and light, would it not be reasonable to suppose 

 that the growth of the rootlets would be lateral rather than 

 downward? 



Mr. Gould. I do not like to go into these long discussions, 

 but I cannot answer the question without a little circumlocu- 

 tion. The functions of the root and the functions of the 

 branch and leaf are essentially different. The roots are the 

 purveyors for the nutriment of the plant ; the leaves are the 

 stomachs of the plant, by virtue of which it is elaborated. 

 Take the case of a tree. The spongioles of the root suck up 

 the moisture in the soil, laden with all those manurial matters 

 which the soil holds in solution. It passes upward on the ex- 

 terior part of the tree, and goes on to the upper surface of the 

 leaf. There it combines with the sunlight, and there its qual- 

 ities are changed, by combination with the sunlight, so that 

 when it passes from the upper side of the leaf and goes on to 

 the under side, its qualities are entirely different. It then 

 passes downward, and deposits itself in the form of albumen, 



